CORRESPONDENCE Teresa Shume [email protected]
© 2016 Shume. Open Access terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) apply. The license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, on the condition that users give exact credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if they made any changes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION
2016, VOL. 11, NO. 12, 5331-5348
Teachers’ Perspectives on Contributions of a Prairie Restoration Project to Elementary Students’
Environmental Literacy
Teresa Shumea
aNorth Dakota State University, Fargo, USA
ABSTRACT Place-based environmental education draws on childhood experiences in nature that foster
place-conscious connections to the local bioregion, and intentionally cultivate children’s
relationships with nature on a trajectory toward increased environmental literacy. Even
though opportunities for children to bond with the local natural environment are
paramount for developing responsible environmental behavior and ultimately an
environmentally literate citizenry, few elementary schools prioritize such experiences. The
present study focused on a place-based approach to developing environmental literacy
through elementary students’ participation in a prairie restoration project. The purpose of
this study was to examine teachers’ perspectives on how a prairie restoration project
impacted elementary students’ environmental literacy. Based in an interpretive paradigm,
this qualitative case study involved seven teacher-participants from two schools, and drew
on data collected from field trip observations, classroom observations, interviews, and
artifacts over a span of one academic year. Findings indicated that teachers’ fostered six
components of environmental literacy through the prairie restoration project: feeling at
ease in nature, appreciation and respect for nature, wonder and curiosity, awareness of
ecological interdependence, sense of agency to restore nature, and responsibility and
service toward environmental protection. Two or three of these empirically-derived
themes corresponded with each stage of David Sobel’s three-stage model for the
development of place-based relationships between children and nature. The
correspondence between Sobel’s model and the study’s six themes resulted in a promising
framework to support curriculum design by providing focal points for particular dimensions
of each stage of Sobel’s model. Placed-based approaches like the prairie restoration
project can foster valuable components of children’s relationships with nature on a
trajectory toward increased environmental literacy.
Key Words: Environmental Literacy, Place-Based Pedagogy, In-service Elementary
Teachers, Elementary Science, Nature Education. KEYWORDS ARTICLE HISTORY
Environmental Literacy, place-based pedagogy, elementary science, in-service elementary teachers,
Nature Education
Received 02 October 2015 Revised 15 May 2016
Accepted 16 May 2016
OPEN ACCESS
5332 T. SHUME
Introduction
In Given the rapidly deteriorating integrity of our planet’s ecological systems,
a cultural shift toward pro-environmental perspectives is of critical importance to
the viability of our collective future on Earth (Bowers, 1993, 2006; Orr, 1992; Vitek
& Jackson, 2008; Wessels, 2006). The planet’s biogeochemical systems are
straining to maintain integrity in the face of explosive human population growth
and ever-expanding consumption patterns. It is vital that current and future
generations understand the functioning of natural systems, recognize the
environmental problems facing the planet today, and are motivated to work
toward solutions that are equitable and sustainable. Fostering environmental
literacy by developing environmental awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes,
values, and behaviors among the next generation of citizens is paramount for
improving the Earth’s prospects for environmental sustainability in the coming
decades.
Experiences with nature during childhood are a vital aspect of environmental
education and have been shown to contribute to the development of pro-
environmental attitudes and behaviors during adulthood (Wells & Lekies, 2006;
Strife & Downey, 2009; Wells, 2000; Palmer et al., 1998; Palmer, Suggate, Bajd,
& Tsaliki, 1998; Chawla, 2006; Chawla, 1999; Ewert, Place, & Sibthorp, 2005). In
order to cultivate commitment to protecting the Earth, knowledge about the
natural world should be anchored in concrete, personal experiences with the local
natural environment during childhood (Sobel, 1996, 2005, 2008). Elementary
school curriculum structured to provide children with meaningful experiences to
connect with their local bioregion is paramount to developing an environmentally
literate society.
In this era of school accountability, however, P-12 school practices are heavily
focused on achievement scores in English language arts and mathematics, thus
marginalizing non-tested components of school curriculum (Zastrow & Janc, 2004)
including outdoor and environmental education (Chepesiuk, 2007). Indeed, the
Center on Education Policy reported that after the fifth year of implementing No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, “approximately 62% of school districts
increased the amount of time spent in elementary schools on English language
arts and or math, while 44% of districts cut time on science, social studies, art and
music, physical education, lunch or recess” (McMurrer, 2007, p. 1). The discourses
of achievement and accountability suppress environmental education in U.S.
schools and result in children lacking meaningful learning experiences to develop
rapport with nature (Gruenewald, 2005; Stevenson, 2007).
Even though opportunities for children to bond with the local natural
environment are important for developing responsible environmental behavior
and ultimately an environmentally literate citizenry, few schools prioritize such
experiences (Gruenewald & Manteaw, 2007). This case study was part of a larger
study that examined how seven third-grade teachers from two Upper Midwest
schools made room for instruction about a local ecosystem, the tall grass prairie,
in the third grade curriculum. The broader study explored the pedagogical value
of a prairie restoration project. The present study examined teachers’ perspectives
about how prairie field trips and classroom activities centered on a prairie
restoration project impacted third grade students’ environmental literacy.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5333
Environmental Literacy
Importance of Technology Integration into Teaching
Environmental literacy is widely regarded as a multifaceted construct that
captures the principal intended outcomes of environmental education and reflects
the degree to which one is ready and equipped to act responsibly toward nature.
Roth (1992, p.9) offers this perspective on the essence of environmental literacy:
Environmental literacy involves human discourse about inter-relationships
with the environment. It is essentially the degree of our capacity to perceive
and interpret the relative health of environmental systems and to take
appropriate action to maintain, restore, or improve the health of those
systems. (1992, p.9)
While no universal definition of environmental literacy exists (Yavetz,
Goldman, & Pe’er, 2009), many international commissions and intergovernmental
summits have produced landmark reports establishing cogent visions for intended
outcomes of environmental education such as the Belgrade Charter (UNESCO-
UNEP, 1976) and the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio (UNCED, 1992), among others. The Tbilisi Declaration
(UNESCO, 1978), for example, produced environmental education objectives
divided into five categories: awareness, knowledge, affect, skills, and
participation. A number of environmental literacy framework published in the
1990’s (e.g. Hungerford & Volk, 1990; Roth, 1992; Simmons, 1995) built upon
objectives set forth by UNESCO and other international initiatives to identify
various constellations of categories defining components of environmental
literacy. In 2011, the North American Association for Environmental Education
(NAAEE) released a comprehensive, research-based framework informed by
internationally accepted conceptions of environmental literacy (Hollweg et al.,
2011). The NAAEE framework divides environmental literacy into four principal
components: knowledge, dispositions, competencies, and environmentally
responsible behavior. Though various conceptions of environmental literacy
include different dimensions, a key tenet is that environmental literacy extends
beyond conceptual knowledge to describe what is needed for healthy and
responsible human relationships with nature.
Role of Nature Experiences During Formative Years
Several research studies have illuminated the vital role of childhood nature
experiences in the development of a trajectory toward increased environmental
literacy. Wells and Lekies (2006) proposed a conceptual model for childhood
participation with nature, and adult environmental attitudes and behaviors based
on their finding from interviews with over 2000 American adults. They found that
experiences in wild settings such hiking and camping had a stronger positive
association than domesticated natural activities such as planting seeds or
harvesting garden produce. Strife and Downy’s (2009) and Wells (2000) studies
investigated access to green space for children in poor urban environments and
concluded that experiences with nature were highly significant for their life-long
well-being and cognitive functioning. Palmer, Suggate, Bajd, & Tsaliki (1998)
undertook an ambitious international study that collected data from multiple
sources on the formative life experiences of environmental educators from nine
countries spanning six continents. Palmer’s research team concluded that:
5334 T. SHUME
The data…emphasize without a doubt the importance of providing the young
with opportunities for positive experiences of nature and the countryside;
those in-the-environment experiences that nurture attitudes of appreciation,
care and concern for the world that will endure the passing of years (p.434).
While these studies identified a plethora of life experiences that influenced
adults’ commitment to environmental activism and environmental education, a
consistent element identified throughout these studies was the pivotal role of
childhood nature experience in the development of pro-environmental attitudes
and behaviors.
Similarly, some studies have found impacts of experiences not only during
childhood, often defined as 11 years and younger, but also adolescent years, often
defined as 12-18 years. Chawla (1999) interviewed 30 environmentalists in
Kentucky and 26 in Norway, and identified a cluster of key life experiences
common to these groups. Experiences in nature during childhood and adolescence
emerged as a potent element with over 75% of the participants citing it as a critical
reason behind their commitment to environmental causes. Ewert, Place &
Sibthorp (2005) surveyed over 500 university undergraduates on environmental
beliefs and experiences in nature before age 18. They found appreciative outdoor
activities and consumptive outdoor activities to be among the statistically
significant predictors of environmental beliefs. Similar to research studies that
found childhood experiences to be pivotal, these studies identified both childhood
and adolescent experiences as potent precursors to pro-environmental beliefs and
attitudes in adulthood.
Place-Based Experiences in Nature
When considering the role of childhood experiences in nature for developing
environmental literacy, it is important to examine the characteristics, context and
underlying purposes of children’s experiences in nature. Some environmental
education learning experiences aim to convey messages about the critical urgency
of environmental tragedies, but childhood experiences in nature can engender
nature-protective behaviors without being framed with shock and crisis about
environmental calamities. For example, Finger (1993) found increased
environmental behaviors among adults who had engaged in direct experiences in
the outdoors and learned about local environmental activism compared to those
who had learned about environmental tragedies primarily through the media. The
study concluded, “Environmental behavior is less the result of learning and
knowledge and more the result of particular environmental experiences” (p.18).
Similarly, long-term impacts of a fourth grade field trip to Great Smokey
Mountains National Park, “a site devoted to preserving biodiversity” (p. 34)
included retention of knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes (Farmer,
Knapp, & Benton, 2007).
Several descriptive names have been used to identify environmental
education that aims to develop a sense of place in a local region rather than
focusing on abstract, global-scale, “doom and gloom” environmental crises.
According to Knapp (2008, p.6), some of the terms that have been used to describe
various forms of place-based education include: community-based learning,
service-learning, environment as an integrating concept, environment-based
education, outdoor education, bioregional education, ecological education,
sustainable-development education, and nature studies. Gruenewald and Smith’s
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5335
(2008, p.xvi) definition has been adopted for the purpose of the present study,
“Place-based or place-conscious education introduces children and youth to the
skills and dispositions needed to regenerate and sustain communities.” Fostering
children’s relationships with the local bioregion by drawing on direct experiences
in nature is a powerful avenue toward increased environmental literacy.
Children’s Place-Based Relationships with Nature
David Sobel (1996) developed a model describing three stages that form a
generalizable pattern for the evolution of children’s place-based relationships with
nature during childhood and into adolescence on a trajectory toward
environmentally responsible adult behaviors. Sobel’s model is comprised of three
stages: developing empathy for living things, discovery and exploration in nature,
and social action to protect the natural world. Sobel’s model is unique but
corresponds with Hungerford’s (1996) concept that pro-environmental behaviors
are developed sequentially by progressing through entry-level variables,
ownership variables, finally empowerment variables.
Sobel (1996) posits that the focus in children’s affective relationships with
nature during early childhood centers on developing empathy for living things.
Young children, approximately four to seven years old, need opportunities to
connect with animals, plants, and other living things in order to develop an ethic
of care, empathy, and compassion. For this stage, Sobel recommends “cultivating
relationships with animals, both real and imagined” (1996, p. 13) and fostering a
sense of connectedness with living organisms as “an emotional foundation for the
more abstract ecological concept that everything is connected to everything else”
(1996, p. 13). Congruously, Hinds and Sparks (2008) demonstrated that affective
connections to nature predicted intention to engage with the natural environment.
Also, Cheng and Monroe (2012) examined affective dimensions of children’s
connectedness to nature and identified empathy for creatures as a core element.
Other studies have similarly shown that empathy (Geller, 1995; Schultz, 2000)
and sympathy (Allen and Ferrand, 1999) are valuable for predicting pro-
environmental behaviors.
According to Sobel’s model, middle childhood is characterized by discovery, a
time for children aged approximately eight to eleven years to explore and bond
with the natural environments near their homes. Sobel (1996, p.19) states,
“Exploring the nearby world and knowing your place should be a primary objective
for the bonding with the earth stage, from ages seven to eleven.” This second stage
is characterized by expanding geographic boundaries as children extend their
“home territory” from the confines of their neighborhood and schoolyard to
encompass other ecosystems in the local bioregion, such as the tall grass prairie
in the case of the present study. Sobel’s second stage encompasses exploration of
the natural world that results in bonding with the earth, a personal connection to
the interdependence of life within Earth’s systems. Concordantly, Kals,
Schumacher, and Montada (1999) found that nature-protective behaviors in
adulthood were correlated to a sense of affinity for nature, which was traced back
to past and present experiences in nature. Other studies have identified direct
experiences with nature during childhood to be pivotal for establishing
substantial positive bonds with the natural world (Chawla, 2002; Bunting &
Cousins, 1985; Horwitz, 1996; Kellert, 2002).
5336 T. SHUME
Finally, Sobel’s model reserves social action for preserving and protecting the
natural environment primarily for the final stage. At this stage, an established
personal connection to nature fuels a sense of responsibility and stewardship
towards nature among youth aged twelve years and older who can engage in
actions to protect and conserve the natural environment with support from adults.
Congruously, Cheng and Monroe (2012) found that sense of responsibility to
protect nature was a core component of children affective attitudes toward nature
and was positively correlated with children’s interest to participate in nature-
based activities. When describing the model’s third stage, Sobel cautions against
the introduction of multifaceted environmental tragedies too early because
children who have not attained formal operational thinking tend to view complex
social issues in simplistic, dichotomous terms. Issues that are local in scope and
manageable in scale are most appropriate, such as protecting local water
resources, organizing recycling efforts, or working to shape town ordinances.
It is also important to note that Sobel does not regard the three stages of this
model as mutually exclusive. He points out, “In real life there will always be a
complex interplay of empathy, exploration, and social action. Empathy doesn’t
stop when exploration starts and social action does have a place in early
childhood” (1996, p. 35). Nonetheless, the fundamental tenor of environmental
education activities evolves through the stages and each stage is anchored in a
different purposeful orientation toward the natural world.
Purpose of Study
Childhood experiences in nature have been shown to be important for
developing various aspects of environmental literacy. Place-based approaches,
such as David Sobel’s work, target childhood experiences in nature that foster
place-conscious connections to the local bioregion, and intentionally cultivate
children’s relationships with nature on a trajectory toward increased
environmental literacy. The present study focused on a place-based approach to
developing environmental literacy through elementary students’ participation in
a prairie restoration project. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’
perspectives on how a prairie restoration project impacted elementary students’
environmental literacy.
Methodology and Research Design
The research methodology for this study stemmed from an interpretivist
worldview, a paradigm that posits the world is socially-constructed and reality is
ultimately interpreted through the mind (Glesne, 2011). Like Charmaz (2006),
who acknowledges that her grounded research methodology cannot produce an
exact picture of the world but rather an “interpretive portrayal,” this study’s
qualitative research methodology embraces the subjectivities of building
meaning, and resonates with symbolic interactionism as described in the works of
George Herbert Mead, Max Weber, and especially Herbert Blumer. Snow (2001,
p. 367) aptly decants Blumer’s visions of symbolic interactionism to its essence
with these three points:
1. People act toward things, including each other, on the basis of the
meanings they have for them.
2. These meanings are derived through social interaction with others.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5337
3. These meanings are managed and transformed through an interpretive
process that people use to make sense of and handle the objects that constitute
their social worlds.
In other words, instead of accepting the behaviorist notion of stimulus-
response, symbolic interactionism recognizes that human interpretation mediates
between stimulus and response, and thus is an ineluctable component of making
sense of the world. The subjectivity of human interpretation is key to the research
question that drove this study; rather than verifying the presence of certain
environmental literacy dispositions pre-selected by the researcher, this study
sought to identify and describe the environmental literacy dispositions that were
targeted in intention and in action by the teachers themselves. A case study
research design was selected because of its suitability for research that seeks to
build and analyze contextual portraits in order to develop a deep understanding
of an associated phenomenon or occurrence (Yin, 2009).
Participants and Location
Participants in this study were seven third grade elementary classroom
teachers from an Upper Midwestern school district whose classes participated in
a prairie restoration project for one academic year. In fall, the third grade classes
were bussed to a 300-acre regional science center approximately 15 miles away
where they explored the tall grass prairie and collected ripe seeds from native
plants while accompanied by teachers, naturalists, and parent volunteers. During
the winter months, students planted some of the collected seeds in their
classrooms and engaged in prairie-related learning activities, primarily during
science and social studies lessons. Toward the end of the school year, the classes
returned to the science center for another set of learning activities that included
planting their seedlings and sowing additional seeds that were collected in the
fall. Though this ongoing project is primarily educational in focus, thousands of
third graders have been involved in the restoration of approximately ten acres of
tall grass prairie since 1994.
As shown in Table 1, the seven teacher-participants’ classroom teaching
experience ranged from eight to 21 years. Length of experience teaching third
grade paralleled length of experience participating in the prairie restoration
project, ranging from one to 15 years. All participants were Caucasian and all but
one was female. In order ensure the protection of the identity of the lone male
participant, the title “Ms.” was used in all pseudonyms.
Data Collection
Congruent with Yin (2009), case study data were collected from a variety of
sources, including field trip observations, classroom observations, interviews, and
artifacts. Observations of teacher-participants took place during day-long field
trips to the prairie at the science center in fall and spring, as well as related
classroom science lessons. Following recommendations of Roulston (2010), draft
interview questions were revised in response to a pilot study and observations in
order to design a purposeful interview protocol, which included teacher-
participants constructing charts using three by five inch cards listing terms
generated in response to some interview questions. Through member checking,
participants were consulted about the accuracy and completeness of interview
transcripts. Artifacts collected for this study included copies of the relevant
5338 T. SHUME
sections of the student textbook produced by a publishing company, copies of
worksheets and other materials distributed to students during the class periods
or field trips, electronic versions of slide shows and PowerPoint presentations
prepared by teachers, and lyrics for a song to which one participant referred
during an interview.
Data Analysis
Following Maxwell (2005), data were initially categorized using an open
coding process. Segments of data related to broad areas associated with
environmental literacy were identified and named with short descriptive labels.
These labels became the organizational codes that
served as “bins” to broadly sort data. Next, a deeper level of coding resulted
in classifying data segments labeled with organizational codes into subgroups
that emerged from multiple readings of the interview transcripts, field trip
observation notes, classroom lesson observation notes, and curricular artifacts.
These subgroups were named with short descriptive labels that became the more
specific substantive codes, hereafter referred to simply as “codes.” Each teacher-
participant’s data were coded in a different color. When all the occurrences of a
code were aggregated across all data sources, the distribution of colors revealed
the distribution of that code across participants. Ultimately, the use of a color
scheme during coding made it possible to assure that findings were truly
representative of overall patterns, and made any particularities or exceptions
immediately evident.
Once the data were “fractured” through open coding (Maxwell, 2005, p.96),
the next phase of analysis was to search for patterns of relationships among codes.
Related codes were organized into categories. For example, codes that were
assembled into a category for sensory experiences, defined as instances when
children were invited to use their senses other than sight, included: smell,
touch/feel/tactile, hear/quiet to listen, and taste. Comparable lists, ranging from
two to 13 codes, were the basis for each category. In the next step, searching for
relationships among categories resulted in the emergence of themes. Figure 1
depicts a data analysis map indicating how categories contributed themes. For
example, the category of sensory experiences contributed to the themes of
awareness of ecological interdependence, as well as wonder and curiosity.
Preliminary findings were sent to participants and their feedback was sought in
order to increase validity through member checking.
Results
Six interrelated themes, listed in Table 2, emerged from data analysis
describing teachers’ perspectives on how the prairie restoration project impacted
elementary students’ environmental literacy: (a) At Ease with Nature, (b)
Appreciation and Respect, (c) Wonder and Curiosity, (d) Awareness of Ecological
Interdependence, (e) Sense of Agency, and (f) Responsibility and Service. Themes
are distinguishable from each other because each offers a unique dimension of
environmental literacy targeted by the teacher-participants. Boundaries between
themes, however, overlap to some extent because some of the dimensions of
environmental literacy are inherently related to each other and because some
codes and categories contributed to multiple themes. For example, a sense of
agency refers to a belief that one can make a difference, while a sense of
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5339
responsibility and service refers to a belief that one has a duty to make a
difference. These two themes are distinct but closely related.
Theme One: At Ease with Nature
Teaching One component of environmental literacy that teachers indicated
as having been impacted by the prairie restoration project was children feeling
comfortable in nature, rather than fearful or anxious about being in contact with
natural objects or the natural environment. When asked to describe children with
healthy relationships to nature within the scope of the prairie restoration project,
some teachers identified an eagerness or openness to experience new things in
nature as an important indicator. Ms. Hull related a story about one of her
students who was at ease with nature. The daughter of a biologist, she “was the
first one to touch worms” and was willing to pick up an insect when one of the
teachers hesitated to do so herself. Ms. Hull went on to describe such students in
general as,
Willing to share answers, willing to touch things, willing to try things. You
know, not oohing and aahing about things, but feeling like this . . . is just part of
life, instead of “that's icky,” “it stinks,” and stuff like that.
Children who are at ease with nature possess one of the fundamental aspects
of environmental literacy identified by teachers in this study.
During various observation visits, it was apparent that teachers contended
with some children who were very uncomfortable with nature and anxious about
venturing out to the prairie. Some children showed strong, fearful reactions to
caterpillars, squirrels, grasshoppers, and spiders. During a prairie field trip, one
girl became upset and cried for several minutes in response to a caterpillar that
touched her; the teacher comforted her to help her regain her composure. On a
different prairie field trip, a boy stomped on a grasshopper for no apparent reason
until it was thoroughly crushed while other children crowded around and said,
“Ewww.” Indeed, one of the codes that emerged from analysis was entitled “Ick
Factor” and captured incidents where teachers responded to children expressing
disgust toward nature. Similarly, codes appeared for fearful or anxious reactions
to nature, and for demonstrating a sense of uneasiness or discomfort in nature.
Teachers regarded these negative dispositions as obstacles to overcome in order
to increase environmental literacy.
Conversely, there were also many situations that arose during observations
when teachers responded to children demonstrating strong affinity for nature and
appearing both comfortable and enthusiastic about interacting with nature. For
example, one girl excitedly and spontaneously held out a grasshopper in her
outstretched hand to show me her discovery, a sharp contrast to the boy who
crushed a grasshopper as described above. In contrast to the “Ick Factor” code, a
code entitled “Awe/Wow Factor” drew together examples of teachers interacting
with children fascinated by nature or teachers modeling fascination toward
nature. A regular aspect of all prairie field trips was for children to gather around
interesting finds of living things or natural objects, frequently discovered by one
of the children.
Theme Two: Appreciation and Respect
All teachers indicated that developing a sense of appreciation and respect for
the prairie was a key component of children’s environmental literacy and was a
5340 T. SHUME
desired outcome for the prairie restoration project. In order for children to
appreciate the prairie, teachers realized that it was vital for children to recognize
the prairie as a unique ecosystem, distinguishable from farmland or grass that
makes up urban lawns. A misconception that arose during field trips was for some
children to indicate that wheat was one of the grasses they expected to find at the
prairie. Ms. Hull had samples of prairie grasses on display in her classroom to
help students become familiar with common prairie grasses and to distinguish
them from grass commonly found in city lawns. Ms. Hull said,
And part of it is, I just want them to get in their head a better picture of what
a prairie is. Because most of them, at this time of year [fall], when they come
to school, . . . they don't have a clue what a prairie is. I mean, they've heard
the word. And maybe “Little House on the Prairie.” They have no idea. So
just being able to broaden that concept of prairie, and that animals live here
and that it's important, because animals do live here and it's not just a bunch
of “dumb grass.” [laughs]...I think they are really amazed how many animals
make their home on a prairie.
Helping children to develop a conception of the tall grass prairie as a distinct
ecosystem with inherent value was a theme that emerged in the data for every
teacher to varying degrees.
Beyond recognizing the prairie as a unique entity, most teachers sought to
convey to students the idea that the prairie is endangered and is worth preserving.
Ms. Halt explained that many of her students believe that prairie lands are still
abundant, but that she wanted them to understand “that whole idea that [the
prairie] is rare, and then the idea that we have to take care of it and what we can
do to take care of it.” In addition to grasping the inherent value of the endangered
prairie, teachers also sought to cultivate a strong sense of respect toward the
prairie and nature in general, another component of environmental literacy
among third grade children. Codes that stemmed from teachers’ expectations for
children to act respectfully toward the prairie appeared in all teachers’ data.
During the prairie field trips, children were reminded repeatedly by teachers to
leave the prairie grasses intact, not to take things from the prairie such as galls
or berries, and to clean up any garbage from snack or lunch. Most teachers
regarded the prairie trips as pivotal for developing a combination of appreciation,
caring, and respect for the prairie. In response to describing what would be lost if
the prairie trips were eliminated, Ms. Halt explained, “I think that overall
appreciation for what it is. . . . If you don't appreciate something you're not really
going to respect it, care for it, and conserve it.”.
Theme Three: Wonder and Curiosity
Another theme that emerged from data analysis highlighted the role of a
sense of wonder and a sense of curiosity as building blocks for environmental
literacy among third grade children. Teachers cultivated children’s sense of
wonder and curiosity during field trips and classroom lessons by permitting the
class to stop and observe discoveries more closely, by showing enthusiasm and
interest for children’s finds, by modeling curiosity and wonder, and by occasionally
not providing immediate answers to some questions. When a child or adult
became curious about something while walking through the prairie, classes often
stopped to take a closer look. During prairie field trips, classes stopped to examine
goldenrod galls, snakes, frogs, beetles, decomposed logs, various plants, swallow
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5341
nests, mounds made by pocket gophers, holes made by snakes, deer bones left
from a coyote’s kill, and even a piece of hardened tree sap. Not all opportunities
for asides stemming from children’s questions were pursued; sometimes, the class
forged ahead and children’s questions or comments were pushed aside for the time
being. Teachers fostered children’s sense of wonder and curiosity toward
discoveries of natural objects and living things by modeling curiosity by posing “I
wonder” questions or raising a question without providing an immediate answer,
such as when Ms. Lake wondered aloud about some of the class’ discoveries during
their spring field trip, including a tent caterpillar nest, shelf fungus on a tree, and
the possible entrances to a large ant hill.
Theme Four: Awareness of Ecological Interdependence
Another theme centered on the teachers’ expectations for children to develop
a strong sense of awareness about their immediate surroundings, and to use these
careful observations to make inferences about interdependence in ecosystems.
Children were encouraged to be observant, to be in the moment, to pay attention
to details and notice particularities about the prairie. For example, a regular
component of the spring field trips was for students to walk through a section of
forest in silence and pay careful attention for any visual or auditory signs of
animals. The role of sensory experiences for children emerged repeatedly as a code
in the data for all teachers. From smelling crushed plants on the prairie and in
the classroom, to listening for the difference between the call of a chipmunk and
a tree frog, to touching the fur on a bison hide, the prairie restoration project
brought a wide array of sensory experiences to which children were encouraged to
pay full attention.
Teachers then used such careful observations of natural objects and living
organisms to help students to grasp the concept of ecological interdependence, the
idea that nature is comprised of complex webs of life and that people and nature
are connected together in deep and powerful ways. For example, a regular stop on
the spring field trip was a particularly large rotting log where teachers
encouraged students to become fully present to how the soft wood shred looked,
felt, and smelled. Subsequently, classes discussed the role of the rotting log in
several ecological relationships, both on site and back in the classroom. A quote
from Ms. Hull reveals the relationship between awareness of nature and
understanding the concept of ecological interdependence. She said,
One thing that we talk about is a rotting log. You might just see it as a big
chunk of wood, but it's also future soil. . . . It’s food for animals. . . . [Students]
see some connections between plants and animals. . . . The plants kind of help
the animals, and the animals kind of help the plants, some of those
connections. So between people and animals, between people and nature. We
rely on it for food and those kind of things. . . . . Between people, food, homes,
and how we get products from nature.
Teachers helped students sharpen their lenses for noticing physical
characteristics in nature, and subsequently used such observations as
springboard to develop students’ understanding of ecological interdependence.
Theme Five: Sense of Agency
All teachers indicated a desire to foster a sense of agency among their
students, to empower their students with a message that kids could make a
5342 T. SHUME
difference with regards to protecting the natural world. The prairie restoration
project provided an opportune experience to convey that message to students.
Corresponding codes appeared in the data for all teachers. Ms. Lake, for example,
described how her students had a duty to restore the prairie and held “the power
and ability to help restore [the prairie] and put it back.” Ms. Rose, in turn,
explained that one indicator of environmental literacy was when students had “a
sense that they are a piece to this whole puzzle of preservation [of prairie
habitat.]” Similarly, Ms. Halt indicated that she truly valued the opportunity to
confer a sense of agency among her students. She said, “That's my favorite part of
the prairie trip, that they get to see it, that what they're doing is making a
difference and they get to see that. It's my favorite part of it.” Helping her students
to feel empowered to restore the endangered prairie was an important element of
Ms. Halt’s approach to the prairie restoration project.
Ms. Gogh was particularly focused on explicitly developing a sense of agency
among her students. She sought to endow her students with the tools they needed
to learn independently. She encouraged students to pose questions, to be open to
new experiences, and to express their opinions publicly in the classroom. She
sought to equip students to make responsible and healthy environmental
decisions without directing them explicitly to do so. Ms. Gogh stated, “I don't want
them to be cranked up and say, ‘Oh! [Ms. Gogh] said I have to turn the water off
when I brush my teeth.’” Instead, Ms. Gogh hoped that students would come to
that conclusion on their own, and would independently choose to turn off the tap
when brushing. After extensively describing her vision of “eco-mindedness,” Ms.
Gogh wrapped up one of her interviews with the following,
I don’t teach third grade curriculum, I teach students. And no matter what I
give them, I want them to be thoughtful about what they do with the
information I give them. And so I think that’s the overriding piece of this. I
want to give them everything they need to do the right thing, even though I
don’t want to tell them what the right thing is. I want them to figure it out,
hoping they’ll agree with me.
During interviews, classroom observations and field trip observations, Ms.
Gogh consistently avoided positioning her environmental beliefs as dogma and
instead coached her students to find their own voices and their own paths toward
agency to positively impact the natural environment.
Theme Six: Responsibility and Service
Beyond empowering children with a sense of agency to effect positive change,
teachers sought to foster a sense of responsibility and duty toward the natural
environment among their students. A recurrent set of codes that emerged to
varying degrees in data for all teachers centered on the importance of cultivating
a sense of responsibility toward restoring the prairie, a sense of stewardship for
protecting the prairie, and involvement in service learning. Ms. Lake said,
[Students] have the ability to repair something or restore something that's
not there, like the prairies are disappearing so it's our job to go collect the
seeds and go plant them. We have the ability to stop something and repair it
or restore it.
Teachers explained that the harvesting of prairie seeds, followed by growing
seedlings in classrooms over the winter, and finally transplanting the new plants
at the science center formed a process underpinned by a sense of stewardship to
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5343
restore and preserve prairie lands that were regarded as special and inherently
valuable. Teachers expected children to act responsibly toward the prairie in ways
that also extended beyond the prairie restoration process; students were expected
to take care of the prairie by cleaning up garbage, by not picking seeds from unripe
prairie plants, by leaving natural objects on the prairie rather than collecting
them (other than harvesting seeds when directed), and by being careful not to
disturb prairie animals or their homes. Another facet of the prairie restoration
project was its connection to service learning. Codes relating the prairie
restoration project to service learning emerged in data for five of the seven
teacher-participants to varying degrees. Ms. Rose explained how she regularly
engaged in service learning with her students “where we’re actually going out on-
site and working with an organization.” She then identified the prairie restoration
project as a form of service learning, and pointed out that a naturalist had
indicated the seeds harvested by the children would actually cost several
thousand dollars if the science center had been required to purchase them.
Discussion
The six themes that captured key aspects of teachers’ perspectives on the
impact of the prairie restoration project on students’ environmental literacy
resonated with Gruenewald and Smith’s (2008) conception of place-based
education. The themes were grounded in an orientation that sought to develop a
sense of place, to foster place-consciousness, and to equip students to “regenerate
and sustain” (p. xvi) the tall grass prairie. It is notable that, congruent with
Mueller (2008), none of the teacher-participants advocated for a “doom and gloom”
approach that played on students’ fears or guilt in order to compel them to feel a
sense of responsibility and stewardship toward the tall grass prairie. Indeed,
across the year-long data collection period that included multiple field trips
observations, classroom lessons observations, interviews, and artifacts, there was
a remarkable absence of codes, categories, or themes that emerged related to
environmental crisis or intention to shock students about the fragmented state of
the tall grass prairie or the distressed ecological state of our planet.
Rather, teacher-participants’ words and actions sought to honor children’s
cognitive, emotional, and social developmental readiness by fostering children’s
relationships with the prairie and providing a manageable and concrete method
to help restore it, rather than burdening them with them with the adult
responsibility of grappling with the large-scale near-disappearance of an entire
biome in the lower 48 states of the United States. Threats to the integrity and
resilience of the tall grass prairie were not denied or ignored, but a deficit view of
the state of the prairie was not dominant in the teachers’ discourse or the learning
activities selected and implemented by the teachers. Congruent with studies that
have demonstrated a positive relationship between experiences in nature during
formative years and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors (Wells & Lekies,
2006; Strife & Downey, 2009; Wells, 2000; Palmer et al., 1998; Palmer, Suggate,
Bajd, & Tsaliki, 1998; Chawla, 2006; Chawla, 1999; Ewert, Place, & Sibthorp,
2005), the teacher-participants allowed the prairie restoration project to function
as an investment in the elementary students’ childhood experiences in nature,
rather than a bellwether of wider environmental crisis.
The teacher-participants’ place-based approach respected the developmental
growth of elementary children in a manner congruent with David Sobel’s (1996)
three-stage model for the evolution of children’s relationships with nature on a
5344 T. SHUME
trajectory toward increased environmental literacy. The recognition of this
congruence is notable because the teacher-educators’ did not draw on Sobel’s work
in their practice, and Sobel’s model was not part of the initial research study
design. After the study’s themes emerged through data analysis, Sobel’s model
was then identified as a theoretical construct that could be used to show relevant
relationships between the themes. As shown in Table 3, either two or three of the
themes resonated with each of the three stages of Sobel’s model. As noted earlier,
though Sobel’s model captures a general developmental pattern from early
childhood to adolescence, the stages are not rigidly bound nor are they not
mutually exclusive.
Empathy for Living Things
The study’s first three themes were congruent with the initial stage of Sobel’s
model, developing a sense of empathy toward living things. The first theme,
feeling at ease with nature, resonated with Sobel’s first stage because being
comfortable in nature and being open to trying new experiences in nature are
prerequisite to fostering a sense of connection and empathy with living things.
For example, there was a sharp contrast during a prairie field trip between a girl
who cradled a grasshopper in her hand and eagerly held it out to show others, and
a boy who demonstrated an egregious lack of empathy by stomping on a
grasshopper in front of other children. Indeed, one of the indicators identified by
teachers to denote a healthy relationship with nature among children was a sense
of eagerness or openness to try new experiences.
The study’s second theme was the development of a sense of appreciation and
respect for nature. A particularly salient aspect of this theme was the teachers’
desire for children to recognize the prairie as a unique ecosystem, home to
distinctive prairie grasses and array of specialized plants and animals. Such a
desire highlighted an important dimension of Sobel’s first stage of developing
empathy toward living things because teachers wanted children to recognize the
inherent value of the prairie ecosystem and to feel a sense of caring and empathy
toward it. Finally, the third theme, cultivating children’s sense of wonder and
curiosity, also resonated with Sobel’s first stage because wonder can engender
empathy when children are engrossed by fascination for natural marvels such as
the grasshopper example described above.
Exploration of the Natural World
The study’s third theme, wonder and curiosity, was closely connected to
Sobel’s second stage because children’s exploration of the natural world was
largely fueled by their curiosity. Indeed, Eberbach and Crowley (2009, p.59) point
out, “objects – be they beetles, flowers or dinosaurs – are powerful sources of
inspiration for observation and the desire to know more.”
Of note is that though it was evident that all the teacher-participants valued
students’ curiosity in practice, none of them identified curiosity as an indicator of
children’s environmental literacy when interviewed. During prairie visits, for
example, children’s curiosity was honored when classes paused to take a closer
look at discoveries such as pocket gopher mounds, goldenrod galls, and foliage
ravaged by thousands of tent caterpillars. It was clear from the field trip and
classroom observations that all the teachers valued and honored children’s
curiosity regarding the prairie. Indeed, codes for valuing curiosity and wonder
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 5345
emerged during open coding for every teacher participant’s data. One possibility
could be that the teachers regarded fostering children’s curiosity as simply too
obvious, too germane, too assumed to bother mentioning. This hanging thread
might be woven into a future research project.
The study’s fourth theme, increasing awareness of natural surroundings to
foster a commensurate ability to recognize ecological interdependence, related to
Sobel’s stage about exploration of the natural world. When describing an example
to illustrate the second stage of his model, Sobel described how children came to
deeply understand the water cycle through ongoing exploration of their nearby
watershed. He wrapped up by quipping, “Wet sneakers and muddy clothes are
prerequisites for understanding the water cycle” (1996, p. 27). In both the example
of the rotting log from this study and Sobel’s example of exploring the water cycle,
sensory experiences amplified personal connections to the natural world.
Social Action to Protect the Natural World
The fifth theme was sense of agency, a belief that one’s actions can make a
positive difference to protect the natural world. This theme corresponded with the
third stage of Sobel’s model, undertaking local and manageable social actions to
protect the environment. Helping students to feel empowered to make a difference
by protecting the prairie was inherent in the prairie restoration project. Some
teachers made that connection explicit to their students, such as when Ms. Hull
proudly showed her current students the plots of previously restored prairie from
years past. Like Sobel’s third stage, the teachers’ efforts to foster students’ sense
of agency was consistent with Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (1982) that someone
who believes in his or her capacity to successfully accomplish a task is more likely
to engage in that task.
The study’s sixth theme of responsibility and service toward protecting the
natural world was also congruent with Sobel’s third stage of social action.
Teachers sought to develop a sense of duty toward restoring the prairie and a
sense of stewardship for protecting the prairie. Indeed, the prairie restoration
project demonstrated many of characteristics that Sobel identified as suitable for
social action in the third stage of his model. In particular, the prairie restoration
project was a local undertaking, rather than one that was highly abstract or
unrelated to the children’s immediate bioregion, such as ocean pollution or
tropical rainforest destruction. Also, the scope of the underlying issue was
manageable; while the loss of endangered prairie can be an emotional issue for
some, its scale was less overwhelming than planetary issues such as climate
destabilization due to global warming or the mass extinction of biodiversity on
Earth.
A Promising Curriculum Design Framework
Figure 2 depicts relationships between the study’s six themes and Sobel’s
(1996) three-stage model for the development of children’s place-based
relationships with nature on a trajectory toward increased environmental
literacy. This framework offers the potential to support curriculum design that
seeks to develop environmental literacy through place-based education. Sobel’s
three stages, resonant with Hungerford’s sequential configurations (1996), form a
solid basis for curriculum design on large or small scales. The three stages might
be addressed across the span of an entire K-12 school experience as recommended
5346 T. SHUME
by Sobel, or within the scope of a single academic year as occurred in the prairie
restoration project that was the subject of this study.
Within the framework, the study’s themes can serve as focal points
highlighting particular, empirically-supported dimensions of each stage in Sobel’s
model. For example, when establishing curriculum goals and objectives related to
cultivating empathy for living things, educators could pay particular attention to
targeting outcomes related to the study’s three themes of assuring students feel
at ease with nature, cultivating appreciation and respect for nature, and fostering
a sense of wonder and curiosity. Similarly, curriculum goals and objectives
related to Sobel’s exploration stage could intentionally aim to cultivate a sense of
wonder and curiosity, and to connect careful observations based on sensory
experiences with developing a cognitive understanding of ecological
interdependence. Finally, developing a sense of agency, and a sense of duty
toward protecting nature could serve as focal points for learning outcomes
targeting Sobel’s third stage. In this way, the study’s empirical evidence supports
particular dimensions of each of Sobel’s stages as they are implemented through
curriculum.
Conclusion
The study’s purpose was to examine teachers’ perspectives on how a place-
based prairie restoration project impacted elementary students’ environmental
literacy. Findings indicated that teachers’ fostered six components of
environmental literacy through the prairie restoration project: feeling at ease in
nature, appreciation and respect for nature, wonder and curiosity, awareness of
ecological interdependence, sense of agency to restore nature, and responsibility
and service toward environmental protection. These six empirically-supported
components of environmental literacy correspond with David Sobel’s three-stage
model for place-based relationships between children and nature. The resulting
framework can serve to support curriculum design by providing focal points for
particular dimensions of each stage in Sobel’s model. Placed-based approaches
like the prairie restoration project can foster valuable components of children’s
relationships with nature on a trajectory toward increased environmental
literacy, ultimately improving our world’s prospects for ecological sustainability.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Teresa Shume holds a PhD in science education and now is a professor at North
Dakota State University, Fargo, USA.
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